Mel Does Words #1

Traditionally I have been pretty shit at doing these, I always seem to forget about it, but this time it’s semi-professional (ish).

Fingers crossed that I will keep up with this, Lord knows Mark will be on my ass about it if I leave it for too long (You worry too much … but yes, I probably will – Mark).

For those of you who don’t know me, I am the other half of Mars: The Web Series and the Rita Repulsa of Kartanym (Make my monster grow!). I am, by day, an account manager and all the time, a massive nerd who happens to love drama, film, music and games with a fierce passion.

I have spent most of my adult life as a volunteer drama teacher for a fan based group which is where I met Mark. We proceeded to get along fantastically as I was Assistant Director for a TV Series project that Mark had created and wanted to film, which unfortunately did not get off the ground at the time. I am hoping that we do get to kick it off at some point in the future as it was what first prompted me to get to know Mark, who is now one of my closest friends.

Mark originally approached me about a year and a half ago to be a part of this idea that he had for a web series about two nerds who met online, using just webcams and hopefully building into a full scale series (with real cameras! *gasp*) over time. Both Mark and I have been pretty heavily involved in the creation of Mars. We would spend a few hours plotting out the imaginary lives of these two people, excitedly thinking up ways to torture the poor things and venting out all our nerdiness. It was lots of fun to create and film, so when Mark told me about Kartanym, I was incredibly excited to take part and encourage the growth and scope of the idea and turn it into a reality.

There’s been a bit of a hiatus around Mars, and on my end of things, as I had started a new job and found myself running out of all the time I had spare previously to work on Mars whilst I was unemployed. On top of that, I have depression. Let’s just say that during the last year I have had a pretty hard time. I am very happy to say things have definitely improved and we are back at it.

This is being written fresh after our first meeting for the new year and I can tell you we have some pretty exciting ideas and more content coming your way, including this blog! We also filmed my first PN2 adventure, Mario Kart 8.

I am terrible at Mario Kart 8. My gamer pride is bruised and painful after my terrible showing. I am hoping that after my profuse amounts of swearing, screaming and weird impressions, Mark will let me back on PN2 and I will redeem myself in another game.

In general, it is my hope that we can create content that is entertaining, diverse and, at times, even challenging of people’s world views. So stay tuned and watch as Kartanym forges through 2015 and enjoy the ride!